object of ferious confideration to the public, and worthy the notice of the legiflature, I am induced to fend you the following extract, which I have taken from a letter just published on this fubject, addreffed to Francis Annefley, Efq. M. P. by the Rev. Dr. Barry; in which the author has examined the matter with great candour, thrown out a number of well digefted hints, and combined a judi. cious measure of ftate policy with a laudable zeal for the intereft of humanity. "Of taxation, in the prefent circumstances of the country, even the very mention requires an apology; but when it is only offered, by way of fubftitute for others, more objectionable, and lef productive, I can have very little hesitation, Sir, in cordially propofing it for you ferious attention and carneft endeavours. That fuch a tax is as practicable as any other, cannot admit of the fmalleft doubt; fince every perfon might be required to enter his dog on the fame lift, and under the fame regulations, as he. would ris horfe, or otherwise to take out a licence for keeping it, in the fame way as he is now called upon to do for the ufe of hair powder; and every dog thus licensed, fhould have a numbered collar placed round his neck; and fuch as was found at large without this badge of diftinction, fhould either be deftroyed, or elfe detained, for the purpose of detaining its owner, to fine or punishment.-A tax on dogs has long been established in the Ifle of Man; indeed, that, and another on publicans, conftitute the whole of its domeftic taxation *. Sporting dogs are rated in much greater Proportion than common ones; * Vide Robertson's Tour through the Ile of Man. but the contrary of this, to obviate the evils I have already complained of, fhould be adopted here. "It may not be amifs, in this place, to give fome probable conjecture of what are the prefent number of dogs in this country, with a view of afcertaining, in fome degree, what would be the annual produce of a small impoft on each: fuppofing then that we fix the number of people in En gland at eight millions, and if we may be allowed to calculate the number of houfes, by the number of people, and give five people to every house, it would make the number of houses to be one million fix hundred thoufand! If then, this statement be admitted as a fair one, the next object will be to make fome estimate of the number of dogs, by the number of houfes; that there are many houfes in every city, town, and village, without even one of thefe animals to each, is a fact, most readily allowed; but when the greyhounds, fox hounds, terriers, and fporting dogs of every defcription, which are kept in fuch profufion all over the kingdom, are taken into the account, it does not appear as very improbable, that if the aggregate collection of dogs were equally apportioned, that there would be found adequate number to supply each houfe with one. an "You will perceive, Sir, that I have ventured on this point rather hypothetically, and cannot therefore pretend to draw any certain conclufion from it; but if I have not wandered in this particular very far from the truth, and the calculation is considered as reasonable, the number of dogs, would in that cafe, plainly amount to as many as the number of houfes; and if we afford to every Cumberland Hunt.Carlifle Races. every dog, large and fmall to gether, fixpence a week for his food; it would amount, in the whole, to the yearly fum of two millions, and eighty thoufand pounds, an income not very much exceeded in the abfolute expen diture for the maintenance of all the parochial poor of England! And if only five fhillings were levied on each dog, fuppofing the prefent number to be still retain ed, it would produce the enor mous annual revenue of four hundred thousand pounds! but admitting, for the fake of argu ment, that only one half of this income was collected, or, if you please, only one half of that, which would be an hundred thousand pounds annually, furely, it would well answer the purposes of taxation." 97 Cumberland Hunt and Carlisle Races. No former meeting has exceeded, and few have equalled this, either in number or refpectability.-The diverfion in the field, and the sport on the turf were excellent, although the weather proved unfavourable; not fo much, however, as to prevent the gentlemen from going out each hunting morning with Mr. Warwick's hounds. In the hours of focial enjoyment, nothing but mirth, united with the most perfect cordiality, prevailed. "There man was endear'd unto man," and "feftivity reign'd at their board." -The balls were diftinguished by a moft brilliant difplay of beauty, elegance, and fashion; while gaiety and good humour were the leading features of the dance.-Nine new members were elected; Henry Howard, Efq. and Henry Fletcher, Eiq. appointed stewards for the meeting of next year. 98 Theatrical Regifter.. Sir Charles Tanjore dying, leaves Emmeline, an only daughter, with a fortune of 5000l. per annum, under the guardianship of Project, an unprincipled fpeculift, who, ultimately failing in fome very extenfive fraudulent plans, is arrested and lodged in the King's Bench. Emmeline forms an early attachment for Captain Arable, to whom he is about to give her hand in marriage, when the union is broke off in confe quence of fome family quarrel. He goes abroad: and the is fo much affected at the cruel feparation, that she contracts an illnefs, which is followed by a fever and mental derangement; recovering, however, Project, who has applied part of her fortune to his own purposes, keeps her confined under various pretexts, with an intention of forcing her to marry his coufin; until, at length, by means of Cecilia and Jack Arable, the escapes: Alderman Arable, an agricultural fpeculift, has long been impofed upon by Project: but, being at length convinced of his villainy, fends him to prifon for having embezzled the fortune of his niece, Emmeline, and bestows her hand on Captain Arable, the object of her choice, although he had previously intended her for his own fon, Jack Arable. Tanjore, after having diffipated. an ample fortune at the gaminghoufe, is fent to India by Sir Charles: but, failing in his purfuits, and efcaping from prifon there, he returns to England pennylefs. He is the principal means of expofing the difhonefty of his coufin, Project, to Alderman Arable, and thereby gains his esteem. Being fent to the King's Bench prifon for the amount of a taylor's bill, he gets into the fame apartment with Project Theatrical Register Project, each of whom depends on the other for the means of liberation the latter, until this tine, fuppofing Tanjore to have come home from India immenfely rich, Before matters are properly explained, a curious fcene takes place between them, which is terminated by the Alderman releafing Tanjore, and leaving Project in the college, as it is wittily termed. A rich relation of Tanjore now returns from India, who ef fectually relieves him from his embarrassments, and marries his fifter, Cecilia, with which, and the union of Emmeline with Captain Arable, the whole concludes. Such is the outline of a piece, on the merits of which we confess ourselves under fome difficulty-to form a decifive opinion. It abounds in farcical incidents, which rapidly fucceed one another, with very little attention to confiftency or nature: but if reafon wanders ungratified, rifibility meets with ample indulgence; and in most of our popular modern comedies, the cur. rency of the latter is accepted in lieu of the fterling value of the former. Mr. Reynolds has fpeculated very extensively in wit, it is therefore not at all aftonishing that in many of his adventures he fhould mifcarry. The language is certainly very sprightly, well adapted to make an audience merry, and difplays many traits of original humour and genius; in a few inftances, however, we recognized fome old friends, but not without new faces. In no part does the author lofe fight of moral Speculation; poetical justice is every where difpenfed, and the whole conveys a very excellent leffon to mankind, as it 99 holds up to ridicule various cuftoms of life which ought to be defpifed, and a series of venal purfuits, which, call for the execration of every liberal and honest mind. Alderman Arable (a citizen and farmer) is an original, wellconceived character; it is a fatire on thofe perfons who quit purfuits adapted to their capacities, and education, for others with which they are totally unacquainted. The Alderman, being ignorant of the business of a farmer, is every way impofed upon: but we have no doubt he will, in the end, produce a very abundant crop His fon, Jack Arable, is a student of law, to which he pays very little attention. His keen touches at the profeffion afford much pleafantry, and the manner in which he expreffed his difinclination to frequent Westminster Hall, which he defcribes as a market full of black cattle, attended by very few buyers, almost convulfed the audience with laughter. The characters of Emmeline, Project, and Tanjore, are sketched in the account of the plot. The latter is a gay and elegant portrait. The Epilogue is a differtation on modern fashions and cuftoms. It is well written, and was admirably spoken by Lewis. The performers were all very happy in their exertions; each of them felt a coufiderable degree of intereft in the fuccefs of the Speculation. The comedy was received with the most univerfal tokens of ap• probation we ever witneffed, and was given out for a second repre fentation, amidst the reiterated plaudits of a crouded audience. N 2 SANS SANS SOUCI. It con for It is not true that Mrs. Abingdon intends returning to the stage from which he has withdrawn herself near five years; rich in the patronage of her numerous friends, who are equally zealous for her happiness in her retirement, as they were anxious in protecting her against that abuse, which is the invariable attendant on those who are favoured with the approbation of a partial pub lic. Envy will merit as its fhade purfue, were he to hazard the attempt. THE popular performance at Mr. Dibdin's manner in the dethis theatre of mirth, rank fore- livery of the diction, is not the moft among the fashionable en- moft advantageous to the effect tertainments of the day. of his entertainment-it is, by fifts of an olio of fatire, ridicule, far, too precipitate, and thence humour, mufic, and fong, which frequently blundering and imthe author calls Will o' the Wifp. | perfect. A little more time taken Like every other of Mr. Dibdin's in his fpeaking would be of ferformer productions of this ingeni- vice. ous and fingular kind, the prefent performance affords food Jaughter, and creates no fmall fhare of admiration at the fertile refources of the author's brain, and his unwearied exertions in the fervice of the public. The fongs, which are the most valuable part of all Mr. Dibdin's entertainments at Sans Souci, have this year confiderable variety, and a few of them may be ranked among his most happy ballads. The Sailors Journal in particular bids fair to rival Poor Jack, or any other of his fortunate nauti cal fongs. The thought is deli cate and natural, and it is mana. ged with great pathos and dexterity. Mad Peg alfo has much melody in it; among the humorous, those that promife to be the most popular, are Peggy O'Blarney, Mooring, Batchelors' Wives, the Dream, and the Town Crier. The reft are compofitions not devoid of merit, but they have not equally strong claims to commendation. The vehicle of the fongs as ufual, is a whimsical piece of patch-work, made up of occafional ftrokes of fatire, ftrayed jokes, and old ftories newly applied, which altogether, being tolerably well blended, keep the audience in good humour, and afford as much amufement as the public can expect to receive, for hear three hours fucceffively, from a fingle performer, and indeed more than any other individual perhaps, could create, A poetical effay on modern play-writing, at prefent engages the attention of Peter Pindar. Mr. Cumberland has another play on the ftocks, which is ex. pected to be launched about the midale of January. Bannister, jun. has been fitting to Beechey for his portrait.-The likeness produced, in lefs than an hour, is fo ftrong, that, if it proceeds thus, there will be the moft correct record of his countenance that was ever tranfmitted. The Dublin theatre opened with the tragedy of Othello, and the comedy of the Mifer. In the latter piece, Wilfon was the Lovegold. There was an interlude of poney races. An |